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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Challenging prose entwined with beautiful reference to Chinese culture and her harrowing childhood. An insightful look into the assimilation immigrants must endure when living in America. I want to hug Maxine Hong Kingston!!!
I read this in my second year of high school right around the time the Disney animated film came out. This is part memoir, part fable. The Fa Mulan thread is fierce and glorious. I love that Hong Kingston weaves it in with her girlhood and family folklore, even if it makes this more of a memoir/fiction mash-up. Highly recommend.
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
There were a few moments in this book that the poetry of the prose was a little too heavy and it lost me, which is what's keeping it from a perfect rating. That aside, this was a beautiful, beautiful book. The tapestry of science and mythology, history and ghost stories, the real and the supernatural perfectly comes together to detail the life of a girl growing up with the expectations of two different cultures on her shoulders.
The prose is for the most part stunning, the content is heavy but good, and the narrative voice is compelling and honest and lovable. And the best thing? While it details a really difficult experience that wasn't pleasant or easy, there's also a strong air of hope that carries it though and just makes it an amazing read.
The prose is for the most part stunning, the content is heavy but good, and the narrative voice is compelling and honest and lovable. And the best thing? While it details a really difficult experience that wasn't pleasant or easy, there's also a strong air of hope that carries it though and just makes it an amazing read.
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Really had to mull over my review of this one.
The chapters were super long (some well over an hour each in the audio book) which I always struggle with as it leaves few appropriate stopping points where I can take a break, digest and do other stuff before coming back. It also makes it pretty tough for me to follow and keep up with what's going on.
There were some really poignant and thought provoking elements and points made of femininity and cultural identity but I'm not sure the weaving in of a more mythic style of storytelling really worked for me. Sometimes these sections sort of lost me and I wasn't sure what point they were trying to make.
The chapters were super long (some well over an hour each in the audio book) which I always struggle with as it leaves few appropriate stopping points where I can take a break, digest and do other stuff before coming back. It also makes it pretty tough for me to follow and keep up with what's going on.
There were some really poignant and thought provoking elements and points made of femininity and cultural identity but I'm not sure the weaving in of a more mythic style of storytelling really worked for me. Sometimes these sections sort of lost me and I wasn't sure what point they were trying to make.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Ended up doing excerpts. Want to come back to this at another time.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced